Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Gravy

3 February 2017

Like most busy mothers trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry, I’m always trying to find shortcuts wherever possible. For me, this has been one of the biggest adjustments since becoming a mother; I am someone who used to make absolutely everything from scratch – bread, noodles, pasta – and this cooking style was bound to go out the window once our children came on the scene.

Most shortcuts I have discovered have been via other busy mothers, especially mothers who work full-time and obviously possess very advanced time-management skills in order to be able to put dinner on the table each night for their families. For these mothers, pre-chopped vegetables (whether sold fresh or frozen) are always high on their grocery list, as well as pre-mixed vegetables ready for steaming or stir-frying.

I came across some pre-made meatballs at the supermarket the other day and thought it would be my secret to a speedy dinner that evening with a quick homemade tomato sauce. Unfortunately, my family were quick to call me out. What would often be devoured very quickly in our home was pushed aside on everyone’s plate (mine included), and these meatballs were as tough as rocks.

Filled with guilt at having served my family a sub-standard meal, I tried to redeem myself a few days later by making one of our favourite dishes, Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Gravy … from scratch, of course!

My sister-in-law is Swedish, and everytime we visit her in Stockholm, we are always delighted when she makes us her special meatballs for dinner. Once, whilst I was observing her cooking, I noticed her add an unlikely ingredient to the sauce … soy sauce! It turns out that many Swedes have a bottle of soy sauce in their pantry and use it to add savouriness and colour to their dishes. My sister-in-law and I had a lot more in common than I had expected after all 😉

The following is my recipe for Swedish Meatballs with a Creamy Gravy. If you are a fan of the same famous dish at IKEA – and let’s just admit that we ALL love IKEA’s version – this recipe is an even more delicious, yet homemade, version. I love using fresh herbs in my cooking, so these meatballs are packed with both fresh and dried herbs. In fact, I also serve these meatballs with tomato sauce – it’s a very versatile recipe.

It is typical to serve this dish with mashed potatoes and pickled cucumbers, although I sometimes change things a bit by serving it with pasta (such as orrechiette), or even some golden-fried hash browns or Rösti (we live in Switzerland, after all).

But what is absolutely essential is some lingonberry jam to go alongside the meatballs. In summer, when lingonberries are available at the farmers’ markets, I like to make my own lingonberry jam (which is very quick and easy in small batches). Otherwise, a jar of store-bought lingonberry jam is just as good. We do, after all, have to find some shortcuts in the kitchen!

Instructions

Soak the breadcrumbs in the cream in a large mixing bowl to which you will add everything else later.

Once the breadcrumbs have softened (this will take just a few minutes), add the remaining ingredients for the meatballs into the bowl. Mix everything together with your hands until it is well combined.

Shape the meatballs. I prefer to keep the meatballs small, but make them as small or as large as you like.

Heat some oil in a large frying pan which you will also use later to make the sauce.

Fry the meatballs until they are golden brown all over. You may need to do this in batches. Don’t worry if the meatballs are not cooked through completely, as you will continue to cook them later.

Remove the meatballs to a plate.

Pour the stock into the saucepan and use a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the pan. Return the meatballs to the pan, and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

Remove the meatballs to a plate.

Add the cream and soy sauce. Slowly whisk in the cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce to your desired consistency (you may not need all of the cornflour mixture).

Taste for seasoning. If the sauce tastes too concentrated, add a bit of water.

Return the meatballs to the saucepan, and garnish with parsley and chives before serving.

Nutrition

Serving Size:4

Calories:327

Sugar:3.6g

Sodium:375.5mg

Fat:14.7g

Carbohydrates:17.5g

Fiber:1.2g

Protein:30g

Cholesterol:133.6mg

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If you have tried this recipe, I would love to hear how it turned out! Please leave a comment below and share your photos by tagging @eatlittlebird on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, and using #eatlittlebird

You are absolutely right – real life happens. Tonight, I had planned to make steamed mussels for dinner, but discovered that I had to throw away nearly half of the mussels! So we had steamed mussels as a starter and ordered pizza home delivery for our main 🙂

Some shortcuts are good and others we learn are not so good. It happens to us all, right?! This is a gorgeous homemade dinner. I can see why your family prefers your homemade cooking over store-bought!

Yes, I agree – some shortcuts are indeed better than others. I guess I am still trying to find out what shortcuts work for me because, clearly, there are some nights when I need to get dinner on the table just that bit quicker. But it has nevertheless been fun trying out new things!

I really love your blog! This recipe is so beautiful. I’ve had Swedish Meatballs on my recipe list for … years! And never got around to making them. I think I will adapt this (I have to make dairy free), and finally give it a go!

Thanks, Michelle! You could certainly make this dairy-free by leaving out the cream in the meatball mixture and sauce by using a dairy-free alternative like almond milk. You probably won’t need to use so much, though. Hope you will give it a try!

When I was younger, my family and I would go to IKEA just to eat at the restaurant! It might sound strange, but it was sort of normal for where we lived in Switzerland. So I suppose it’s also nostalgia that makes me enjoy the IKEA meatballs. But making them at home is much more fun and delicious 🙂

It’s a relatively quick and easy dish. Rolling the meatballs take a bit of time, but it’s not challenging at all. I make this frequently during the week, which must mean that it’s an easy dish which requires not too much time 🙂

I don’t know of a quiet Ikea store, especially at lunch time! But whenever we have a dreaded visit to Ikea to buy something for the home, I aim to have lunch there as a treat. Which means ordering their Swedish meatballs 🙂

I’m thinking the gods are trying to tell me that I should make some Swedish meatballs. This is twice today alone that I’ve read through a Swedish meatball recipe in its entirety. It’s lunch time here and I’m utterly starving. So much for starting my diet today. 🙂

We love Swedish meatballs. And yes, we’ve bought them at Ikea to bring home which I know may not be the healthiest thing but they’re so good! So I’m really excited about this recipe, now we can make them from scratch and know exactly what goes into them!

I once saw their meatballs in the freezer section and actually thought about buying them to try at home. However, we have a tiny freezer (like one in a mini bar fridge), so making them from scratch was my best option. And it is definitely good to know exactly what goes into them 🙂

You are absolutely right – I just need to find the right shortcuts. Some have been good, but I just need to experiment more. And definitely one of the best things about this dish is the creamy sauce – I often make extra sauce, especially if I end up serving the dish with pasta. The kids just keep asking for more and more sauce!

Great minds must think alike — your recipe is Swedish and mine is Italian. 🙂 Your recipe with cream sauce sounds delicious. You can’t go wrong with delicious balls of meat in a tasty gravy! Great recipe.

This is the second meatball recipe I have seen. The Lord must really be trying to tell me I need to use the 3lbs of ground beef I currently have in my freezer. Maybe I will just try both recipes I have seen. De-lish!!!

I am all about the shortcuts and know very well how disappointing it is when something just doesn’t work! We used to live in L.A. and stopping at Ikea for meatballs was something we did often. With your help, I can now make them at home (no Ikea in our area). Looks delicious!!!

Homemade food is so much better and my family is the same as yours. Anything that I usually cook, if bought from the store always gets a remark of how better the homemade ones are compared to the store bought ones. Love the recipe and the sauce looks great!

I love Swedish meatballs — and at least with my recipe, I’ve found they freeze really well. I usually make a triple batch and store the rest of the meatballs and sauce in the freezer, so we can eat them during the week. I usually don’t get home from work until after 7, so cooking, eating, and getting my toddler to bed on time is always a challenge!

That’s good to know that they freeze well. We have the tiniest freezer so I can never plan on freezing anything, but I do always make a large batch so that we can eat it again later in the week. I find the meatballs keep in the fridge for a few days uncooked. And I know what you mean about getting the children to bed on time … even when we manage, the children decide they are not tired!

I don’t know how you managed to make meatballs look so stunning! This entire meal looks mouthwatering. For the record, I’m a from scratch everything cook, too, but still haven’t mastered it with kids. Just take it as it comes and rely on leftovers like premade meatballs from the freezer in times of need. Beautiful blog!